Taiwan Weekly Famitsu

I bought a few Taiwanese videogame magazines the other day. Since I'm the Taipei Gamer, I had to do it even though I can't read them. I bought three of them and I bought them at a convenience store. They had several others that I didn't buy because hell, three magazines that I can't read is enough. I can read the titles of two of them though, and one of those it turns out is a translation of the mightiest of all Japanese videogame magazines, Weekly Famitsu. I'm going to start with that and maybe talk a bit about the others in later posts.

Taiwan Weekly Famitsu

Well, what can be said. It's basically a translation of the japanese version. The issue I have is dated March 17. Considering that I bought it around the 4th, that seems a bit late(or early). I have always hated that about magazines by the way. A subscriber to a monthly magazine should get the March issue sometime in March, preferably. But he'll generally get the March issue in mid-Feburary and be completely done with it by March as he awaits the April issue. When you consider that the content of the March issue was most likely prepared in January or earlier it is doubly annoying! I've read lots of magazines and believe me, magazine editors are not that prescient. Back to Taiwan Weekly Famitsu, it appears thinner than the Japanese version, not that I know all that much about Weekly Famitsu, but I believe theTaiwan version has a lot less ads. I see a number of articles that seem familiar because I occasionally read articles about what articles there are in this week's Weekly Famitsu; that is the kind of grip this magazine has on the denizens of the internet. I can only assume that these articles are just straight translations of what's in the original version. I can spot some local content though. There is Taiwan's 'Top 15 Selling Games' list, Taiwan's 'Top 15 Most Wanted Games' list, and Taiwan's 'Top 20 Games' list. The last two are voted on by the readers, I'm sure. It is also worth noting that Japan's top selling/most wanted lists are included as well. This is because videogame players everywhere are obsessed with Japan. I am reproducing Taiwan's lists below because they are illustrative of Taiwan's gaming culture and because I want to engender a love for Taiwan in the world's gamers via this website.


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Taiwan's Top 15 Selling Games For Week of ...

1. Monster Hunter 2 (PS2)
   
2. Something 3 (PS2)
   
3. Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams (PS2)
4. Monster Hunter Portable (PSP)
5. Dynasty Warriors(PSP The Best) (PSP)
6. Naruto Something 3 (PS2)
7. Ridge Racers (PSP)
8. Some DS Racing Game (DS)
9. Some game by Banpresto (PS2)
10. Another DS game (DS)
11. Black (Xbox)
12. Something 4 by Capcom (PS2)
13. Naruto Something 4 (GC)
14. Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2)
15. Tourist Trophy (PS2)

Taiwan's Top 15 Most Wanted Games

1. Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
2. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC)
3. Dead or Alive 4 (360)
4. Something 5 by Capcom (360)
5. Some Microsoft RPG (360)
6. Something by Capcom (PS2)
   
7. Some RPG by Sega, maybe Phantasy Star Universe (PS2)
8. Some Pokemon RPG (DS)
9. Ninety-Nine Nights (360)
10. Final Fantasy III (DS)
11. Another Century's Episode 2 (PS2)
12. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
13. Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
    
14. Resident Evil 5 (PS3)
15. Mother 3 (GBA)

Taiwan's Top 20 Best Games

1. Final Fantasy X (PS2)
2. Something 3 by Capcom (PS2)
3. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
4. Dynasty Warriors 4 (PS2)
5. Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)
6. Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)
7. Something MX by Banpresto (PS2)
8. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Easter (PS2)
9. Something that looks like Dynasty Warriors (PS2)
10. Resident Evil 4 (GC)
11. Dragon Quest V (PS2)
12. Resident Evil 4 (PS2)
13. Devil May Cry 3 (PS2)
14. Something with a long name by Banpresto (PS2)
15. Final Fantasy VII (PS)
16. Something by Tecmo (PS2)
17. Dynasty Warriors 3 (PS2)
18. Something by SCE (PS2)
19. Something 4 by SCE (PS2)
20. Kingdom Hearts (PS2)

OK, maybe that wasn't as useful as it could have been. But hey, it's better than nothing and you can at least see the trends if not always the specific games. PS2 is big here, as you can see. Keep in mind that Famitsu doesn't cover PC gaming, a big part of Taiwan's gaming scene.

Tags: Taiwan, gaming, videogames, Famitsu